Is This Woody Allen?

Actually, no, it's a picture of me from my Facebook page, but lately people have been telling me I look like Woody Allen. Today, I was in an elevator and a man dashed in just as it closed. He apologized and said "Oh, you live in Manhattan, so you're used to this sort of thing." I asked what on earth he was talking about and he said "You look like Woody Allen, I'm sure you get that all the time." No, I don't get it all the time, but I have gotten it once before. About a month ago, I was at a valet stand outside a bar and a very drunk girl slurred "I bet people tell you all the time you look like Woody Allen." I told her I had never heard that before and she said "I mean the young Woody Allen, of course." Of course.

So what do you think? Do I look like Woody Allen? I'm not sure what to make of this.

The Positively True Adventures of the Texas Cheerleader Governin' Pols

Kay Bailey Hutchison has announced that she's resigning from the Senate in the fall to run full-time for Governor against incumbent Rick "Goodhair" Perry. Everybody knows Little Ricky was a cheerleader at Texas A&M (they called it "yell leader" so it wouldn't sound so faggy), while Kay Bailey cheered on the Longhorns at UT. The Battle of the Cheerleaders is on!

I have no doubt that Kay Bailey will humiliate Little Ricky in the Republican primary. I'm no Kay fan, but she is popular and obviously intelligent. In sharp contrast, Little Ricky has been cozying up to the secessionists and tea baggers because everybody else thinks he's dumb, and he even got booed at the last tea bagger rally in Austin. Little Ricky won re-election in 2006 with a plurality of 39% of the vote. When he ran for Lt. Gov, he won by a stunning margin of .04%. What was Kay Bailey's margin of victory in 2006? 62%.

If Little Ricky could squeeze out a primary victory by energizing the freaky fringe, he would then have to win the general election. That would be the best possible news for the Democrats, especially Houston mayor Bill White, who's emerging as the leading candidate. But that's a long shot. Texas demographics are changing rapidly in favor in Democrats, but I don't believe they're changing fast enough for a Democrat to beat popular Republican like Kay Bailey in 2010. I hope I'm wrong.

By the way, that's Kay kneeling on the Buick above, front row, far left. She still has the same hairdo today, bless her heart.

Sarah Palin, The Next Donna Reed?

According to a Fox News poll, on "what's next" for Alaska's ex-governor, the top choice was homemaker followed by TV talk show host. That says a lot about what Fox viewers think about the role of women. Keep yer butt in the kitchen or put your pretty little self on the Tee Vee.

Hawaii Lie-O

Steven Colbert on the Birthers:

Birthers Gone Wild!

The lunatic birthers, who believe Obama was secretly born in Kenya or Indonesia or the Kremlin or wherever have been having a field day lately. Moldova-born Lawyer/dentist/real estate agent (not making that up) Orly Taitz has been tag teaming with the always entertaining Alan Keyes on the cable "news" channels chattering about her client, a soldier who's trying to get out of a deployment. They were on Lou Dobb's show on CNN showing the world their complete detachment from reality. Even Ann Coulter calls these folks "cranks." Now, it turns out Republican Senator Inhofe of Oklahoma has said the birthers "have a point."

Of course, this is all about race. People who believe a black man with an Arabic-sounding name couldn't possibly have a legitimate claim to the presidency have seized on this. The crux of their argument seems to be the failure of Obama to release his so-called "long form" birth certificate, as opposed to this Certification of Live Birth released long ago. They claim that a long form birth certificate would have information about the hospital and doctors involved in his birth. Since he hasn't released it, he must have been born to a communist witch doctor in a hippie comune in Kenya. What other conclusion could a patriot draw? Never mind that two Honolulu newspapers published birth announcements within days of Obama's birth, who trusts newspapers, right? Besides, the info in the newspapers came from the Health Department, the same agency that's hiding the magic long-form birth certificate, so they were obviously in on the conspiracy in 1961 to put Obama into the White House in 47 years. It's just so obvious! A child born to an interracial couple in 1961 is a natural choice for a Manchurian President.

It turns out there are no long form birth certificates in Hawaii. The Hawaii Health Department went paperless in 2001 and destroyed their old documents. The document released by the Obama administration is the only document in existence. This should quiet the birthers, right? Obama couldn't be trying to hide something by not releasing something that doesn't exist, right? Don't count on it. Wait for a new series of allegations that the Health Department went paperless in 2001 in an elaborate effort to hide the truth of the birth of a Illinois state senator 40 years before. All conspiracy theories have one thing in common: truth is irrelevant. Nothing will dissuade them. New facts only serve to strengthen their cause.

Why are prominent Republicans like Sen. Coburn kissing up to these freaks? Who else do they have? The GOP is in such disarray that the crazy fringe is about all that's left. So the lunatics are calling the shots in the Republican party.

UPDATE: See Media Matters' excellent Definitive Birther Takedown here.

UPDATE II: It turns out the old Hawaii vital records were not destroyed when the Health Department went paperless.

Merce Cunningham Dead at 90

Eminent American choreographer Merce Cunningham has died in Manhattan. He was routinely hailed as the world's greatest living choreographer and a dancer without peer. His career spanned seven decades and he continued to work until his death. His latest dance, Nearly Ninety, premiered at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in April of this year. He last danced on stage in 1999 at age 80 when he danced a duet with Mikhail Baryshnikov. The picture above is of Cunningham and his life partner, composer John Cage, who died in 1992.

Monday's Man: John Barrowman

I've been watching the new series of Torchwood on BBC America which is terrific, chiefly because it stars dreamy John Barrowman as Captain Jack, an "omnisexual" hero. This year, Captain Jack is in a full-fledged relationship with a man. He's also naked in one of the eposides. Worth watching, don't you think?

Barrowman, who was born in Scotland and raised in the US and claims dual citizenship, skirted with fame in America for years before coming out as gay and becoming a major star in the UK. The Brits have no problem with a sex symbol who's gay, apparently. They have such good taste.

As if he wasn't already delicious enough, he married his adorable husband in a kilt! Is there anything better than a hot man in a kilt?

E. Lynne Harris: 1955-2009

Author E. Lynn Harris has died unexpectedly at the age of 55. He was on a book tour for his latest novel, Basketball Jones. A Detriot native, he grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas and attended the University of Arkansas where he was the first black cheerleader. He was a lifelong Razorbacks fan and was such a fixture in the Arkansas sports world that Arkansas Sports 360 was the first to report his death. As an adult, he divided his time between Arkansas and Atlanta.

He published 11 novels, a memoir called What Becomes of the Brokenhearted and numerous short stories. When he first started out, he personally promoted his novel Invisible Life at beauty shops. Women remained his biggest fans. His books explored gay African-American life. Basketball Jones dealt with an NBA player and his gay lover.

A cause of death hasn't been released, although he was reportedly "stricken" while at the Pennsula Hotel in Beverly Hills.

SC Lt Gov Gay??? Mon Dieu!

I have shocking news. South Carolina Republican Lt. Gov. Andre' Bauer is rumored to be l'homosexuelle! A Republican from the deep south could be gay? Quelle surprise! In a recent interview with The State, Andre' voluntarily brought up the subject of his alleged gayness just so he could deny it. Good thing he cleared that up! Didn't Larry Craig do that in the 80s?

Even though I'm sure he's as straight as the governor of Florida, let's examine l'evidence pour Monseur Andre'.

1. He's 40, reasonably good looking, nice hair, successful, and never married. Maybe he just hasn't found the right girl.

2. He lives in a beautifully-appointed downtown loft in Columbia, pictured above. Check out his tasteful furnishings! Is that Chippendale? Hey, straight guys can have good taste!

3. He wears his religion on his sleeve. If you go to his official web page here (check out the fabulous graphics!) he sorta takes credit for the "I believe" license plates, which feature a cross. I don't know about you, but every other gay guy I know in Dallas went to either Baylor or the Baptist Seminary. The only institution with a bigger closet than the Republican party is fundamentalist religion.

4. He spells his name avec un accent aigu.

5. He engages in reckless behavior. He's mainly known for getting a ticket for going like 100 mph down Main Street in Columbia. It's almost as if he's tortured by personal demons.

6. He's a Republican politician in South Carolina. I wonder if he's a protege of Lindsey Graham?

All fun speculation aside, I'm sure he's straight. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

h/t LC NY Bureau Chief Doug.

Monday's Man: Joseph Gordon-Levitt

I saw 500 Days of Summer over the weekend and really liked it. It was clever, funny, bittersweet and not at all a by-the-books romantic comedy.

A big part of the movie's appeal was Joseph Gordon-Levitt. He was charming, goofy, cool, and sexy without trying too hard to be any of those things. Nice.

Walter Cronkite: 1916-2009

Walter Cronkite, the man who invented the news anchor, has died at the age of 92. He distinguished himself as a journalist in Europe during World War II and joined CBS in 1950. He was made anchor (a term he coined during his coverage of the 1956 political convenstions) in 1961. He proceeded to dominate the field unti he retired in 1981. No one ever came close to the trust he inspired and no one ever will. Media is far too fragmented now for one person to dominate the way he did. My parents watched him every night and I vividly recall his reporting on Viet Nam, which change the course of public opinion on the war.

Your Welcome Stupad Librals

I'm on an email list for alumni of my college fraternity. It's usually stuff about marriages, births, and stuff happening at the old chapter. Sometimes things get political, and by "political" I mean batshit crazy wingnut. I went to college in South Carolina, you see, which is somewhere to the right of Nuremberg. These emails provide a window into a bizarre world where everything is Jimmy Carter's fault, Obama's not a citizen, and white straight men are the only oppressed people on earth. In any case, the other day someone sent out a political cartoon with President Obama steering the US economy off a cliff. Someone responded that he just took over the wheel from George W. Bush. That led to the following email from a guy I vaguely remember from college:

"Brother Patterson, That steering wheel(the bad economy) that you speak of, that poor Obama was given by Bush, was created by a welfare program that went bad on the Bush watch. That welfare program called the Fair Housing Act created by the Carter administration, forced banks to give those who would not otherwise qualify, a loan. In 2001 and again in 2005, Bush and McCain respectively tried to regulate what was obvious to some as a looming economic crisis. Both of these times Senators Dodd and Barney Frank killed the regulation in the finance committee, with the Dems voting to stop the regulation and the Repubs voting for the regulation. Barney Franks lover was the president over Fanney Mae at the time, and Senators Dodd and Obama are the #1 and #2 campaign contribution recipients from Freddie Mack. One of the arms of Acorn actually went into banks that were not participating in the Fair Housing Act and shook them down. You remember Acorn, the organization that is tax payer supported that registered dead people and the same individuals 70 times. Yes the same organization that the Dems took out a clause from a recently passed bill to investigate them. Yes, the economy is the worst it has been since the Carter administration, and this is the same administration coming to haunt us again now with the Obama as the salesman. If you don't remember the inflation from the Carter years, you will come to know it soon. Love ya"

I know, right? And this guy is a college graduate. So much for higher education in South Carolina. He managed to combine racism with homophobia in one ignorant package. Instead of a point by point refutation (I wouldn't even know where to begin), I responded to the group as follows:

"The Fair Housing Act became law in 1968. It was not "created by the Carter administration."I'm quite sure that the causes of the economic meltdown are more complex than any of us can fully comprehend. I am also sure there is plenty of blame to go around to both Democrats and Republicans.I've got an idea. Let's call a moratorium on political topics on this email group. Why don't we limit it to weddings, kids, news from the chapter, etc? I'll start! I'm living a great life in Dallas, TX. If anyone is in the area, give me a ring."

Ahhh. The high road feels good. That was followed by a flurry of positive responses from my frat bros. Nice, right? Then Mr. Fair Housing Act replied.

"To all my liberal brothers, Your correct. The truth is difficult to accept. We can talk about the mundane stuff."

Wow. I'm not making any of this up. It's all totally cut and paste from my email. I'm not going to reply further. It would just be cruel.

TABC Chief: We Made Mistakes

The Administrator of the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Comission, Alan Steen gave an exclusive interview to the Dallas Voice in which he admitted those involved in the Rainbow Lounge raid did not follow TABC procedures. He also revealed that the Fort Worth supervisor has retired in the wake of the raid. He admitted that there was insufficient cause for the raid, that there was an excessive show of force, and that TABC agents should not have even been there.

“If our guys would have followed the damn policy, we wouldn’t even have been there. … We have these conversations all the time, and we don’t participate in those kinds of inspections when there’s not probable cause or reasonable suspicion or some public safety matter to be inspected.”

So, TABC has admitted their culpability and heads have rolled. None of this would have happened if the gay community of North Texas had not stood up and demanded justice. Good work.

Fort Worth Mayor Apologizes...Sorta

Mayor Mike Moncrief apologized for the Rainbow Lounge incident. At Monday's city council meeting, Moncrief announced that neither FWPD nor TABC had finished their investigations and that he had asked the U.S. Attorney to review their findings. Someone in the packed audience called out for an apology and the mayor said:

"If you want an apology from the mayor of Fort Worth: I am sorry about what happened in Fort Worth."

UPDATE: The mayor clarified that he meant to apologize for Chad Gibson's injuries, not for the raid.

Several gay activists demanded to be heard and they were escorted out of counsel chambers. Three hours later, Moncrief relented and allowed people to speak. People who were at the Rainbow Lounge on the night of the raid gave very different accounts from the police. Read it all here.

Malaise Forever

Today is the 30th anniversary of President Jimmy Carter's famous malaise speech, which I'm old enough to remember watching. It was stunning because it wasn't a political speech at all. It was honest and from the heart. It also probably guaranteed his loss to Ronald Reagan.

Carter had been scheduled to deliver a major nationally televised address on energy and the economy. Instead, he canceled and went to Camp David for 10 days. During that time, there was a parade of experts and advisers coming and going and breathless news reports speculating about what it all meant. When Carter returned to Washington, there were snarky "Mohammad Returns from the Mountain" comments in the media. When he finally gave his speech, he didn't talk about energy or the economy, instead he spoke about the changes in our society. Americans were less optimistic, they didn't vote, they no longer saw a country where things get better and better. Instead of telling people what they wanted to hear, Carter told people what he believed they needed to hear. America was in the wake of Watergate, Viet Nam, the gas shocks, and stagflation. Carter was right. There was a malaise in this country.

The initial response was positive, but it didn't take long for Carter's popularity to drop. Then along came Ronald Reagan telling people what they wanted to hear and Carter's presidency was over.

I don't believe a president has told the American people the unvarnished truth since.

Birther Officer Tries to Avoid Duty

An Army officer named Stefan Cook has filed suit in federal court to avoid deployment to Afghanistan because he claims to believe President Obama isn't a natural born citizen and therefore his orders aren't valid.

I am a veteran of the US Army. I was a Major. I gave up a 12-year career because I am gay and I would give anything to have it back. Therefore, this kind of garbage from someone who has the privilege of serving his country really pisses me off. Cook is a field grade officer. A field grade officer is supposed to put his soldiers first. Those soldiers are being deployed to a war zone and he's hiding behind his crackpot political beliefs to try to stay safe at home. I can understand not wanting to go to war. I cannot understand a field grade officer abandoning his soldiers. I would have more respect for him if he just said he was scared. I would be scared too. As it is, I consider this person to be a deserter. I wish his soldiers well and believe they are better off without him.

Young Republicans Vote for Racism

The national Young Republicans have elected Louisiana delegate Audra Shay as their president and demonstrated once again how deeply entrenched racism is in the party. You may remember Audra from her Facebook hits. Recently, a Facebook friend of hers wrote an ugly screed using a racist term I won't repeat, but you can read it all here. It ended with "let's take the country back from all the mad [insert racist term so disgusting and stupid I'm almost surprised people still use it.] Audra, then a candidate for President of the Young Republicans, responded with "You tell em Eric. lol." Yes, lol. Nothing makes a gal chuckle like rank racism. Audra says she didn't catch the last part of Eric's comments and was just referring to his earlier comments. A Young Republican from Washington state posted saying she had never heard the word and didn't know it was racist. A few minutes later, this same woman apparently did some Googling and posted "THIS IS NOT OKAY. And it's not funny." Audra de-friended the woman from Washington. Audra did not de-friend Eric. Audra did delete the racist comment and her "lol" response. Eight hours after the initial racist comment, Audra posted the following: “[She and other Young Republican candidates do not] condone the use of racial slurs on my wall…. It is not right to nor appropriate to talk that way and will not be accepted!” Later, Eric, still her Facebook friend, checked back in with a comment about sunset towns in the old south. You can read it here. The Daily Beast has found other Facebook comments Audra has made including lynching homosexuals and hanging Obama in effigy. Responses from the Republican leadership, including Audra's champion, Gov. Bobby Jindal, have been muted to say the least. Way to build a big tent, folks. This is all just the latest in a series of racist Facebook posts and emails from various Republican operatives around the country, though concentrated in the South.

Don't confuse the Young Republicans with a bunch of kids. Audra's 38 years old. She's an adult and responsible for her actions. Her election is the latest illustration of how the party of Lincoln has become the party of racism, homophobia and, ironically enough, secession. They are stuck with a shrinking demographic that has brought them significant victories in the past, but they are unable to respond to the vast changes sweeping this country. John Avlon has written a brilliant article titled The GOP's Vote for Hate-and Suicide. You should read it here. An excerpt:

"With the realignment of Southern conservatives, Republicans’ belief in individual freedom morphed into support for states’ rights, the longtime banner of secessionists and segregationists. African Americans got the message: Of the 23 blacks who served in Congress before 1900, every single one was a Republican. Since the civil-rights era, there have been only three African-American Republicans elected to Congress but 93 Democrats."

H/T, LC NY Bureau Chief Doug

Monday's Man: Ryan Reynolds

OK, OK, I know I just posted about Ryan Reynolds, but I finally got around to seeing The Proposal, his new romantic comedy with Sandra Bullock. It was totally by-the-book, but it had Betty White! And Ryan is just so darn cute. Plus, he gets naked. OK guys? He gets naked. So sue me for posting about him twice but I just saw him naked today.

Peggy Noonan Takes Apart Palinistas

Conservative columnist Peggy Noonan, who famously said "it's over" into a mike she didn't think was live after McCain chose Palin (and then backtracked like crazy) has written a column carefully and methodocially laying out all the reasons why Palin is terrible for the Republican party and the nation. In the process, she debunks all of Palin's supposed strengths. An excerpt:

"'The elites hate her.' The elites made her. It was the elites of the party, the McCain campaign and the conservative media that picked her and pushed her. The base barely knew who she was. It was the elites, from party operatives to public intellectuals, who advanced her and attacked those who said she lacked heft. She is a complete elite confection. She might as well have been a bonbon."

Deadly accurate. Read it all here. H/T, LC NY Bureau Chief Doug.

DMN on Rainbow Lounge

The Sunday Dallas Morning News ran a lengthy piece on the Rainbow Lounge incident. It was below the fold on the first page. Here's an excerpt:

"Were the officers fueled by homophobic hang-ups as they knocked drinks out of people's hands, slamming one young man into a pool table and gang-tackling 26-year-old Chad Gibson, the Euless computer technician who wound up in the ICU with a blood clot in his brain?
Or did the officers – confronted with a chaotic scene and an antagonistic crowd – use appropriate force to subdue unruly drunks?
This much is beyond dispute: Six people were arrested, Gibson spent days in the hospital and three internal police investigations are under way. A spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office in Dallas has said it will review the inquiries."

It was a well-done piece that asked the right questions and didn't automatically buy TABC accounts. It's worth reading here.

Levi Johnston on Palin Resignation

All the TV pundits have been debating why Sarah Palin resigned and trying to decipher her bizarre speech. Why not ask former-future-son-in-law Levi Johnston? He can't be any less articulate than the gov, right? So, some reporters did just that at a press conference at the Anchorage airport. Apparently he kept his shirt on for the press. Too bad, but he was sporting some hot scruff.

So what was his reason for Palin's sudden departure? "I think the big deal was the book. That was millions of dollars."

Makes about as much sense as anything else I've heard. Somebody get that kid a reality show!

But wait, there's more. According to Alaska-based Mudflats, Levi "claims he heard the governor several times say how nice it would be to take advantage of the lucrative deals that were being offered, including a reality show and a book."

Palin spokeswoman Meghan Stapleton actually responded, thereby conferring legitimacy on Levi. She said: “It is interesting to learn Levi is working on a piece of fiction while honing his acting skills.”

Oh Snap Meghan! Maybe next you could write a fake love note from Levi to Martha Dunstock. That would be sweet!

Patrick Murphy Quarterbacks for Equality

The Pennsylvania Congressman and Iraq War veteran has introduced a bill in Congress to repeal Don't Ask/Don't Tell. He did a hell of a job promoting the bill on Rachel Maddow last night. Watch it.



With straight allies like Patrick Murphy, it's no wonder we're winning.

My Letter to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram

I wrote a letter to the editor of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram after reading this offensive and illogical editorial on July 2. They published my letter today. Here it is:

The July 2 editorial about the Rainbow Lounge chided those who engage in speculation, yet the editorial assumed that Chad Gibson is guilty of "laying hands" on an officer even though it is contradicted by eyewitness accounts and investigations are not complete. The editors blame the bar owners for not informing the TABC about the Stonewall anniversary, as if they could have predicted what happened.

It seems that it’s the Star-Telegram editors who are engaging in speculation and accusation instead of journalism and truth seeking.

They also published an excellent letter from Pulitzer Prize winning playright Doug Wright (Quills, I Am My Own Wife) who said what we've all been thinking. You should read the whole thing here. An excerpt:

The officer’s justification — that a gay bar patron "groped" him — also is shameless. All too often, straight men who commit attacks on gay men trot out this wan defense, expecting the public to believe that gay men are so voracious and sex-obsessed that they would willingly incite violence by reaching out to sexually titillate their adversaries. This is not predicated on plausible human behavior, but on rank and humiliating stereotypes about gay men that are rarely, if ever, true.

Chad Gibson Speaks Out

Chad Gibson, the man who suffered a brain injury in the Rainbow Lounge raid, spoke to the press from his hospital bed. He called for the TABC officers to be prosecuted and called them out for accepting no responsibility. Read the whole article here.

I right-clicked on the picture of Gibson on the Channel 8 web site and saw that someone had named it "injuredmo." Seriously. Some web tech or some other sick asshole decided Gibson deserved a stuped jab. I emailed the reporter, Darla Miles, and asked her to fix it.

UPDATE: Here's the response I got from WFAA:

Thank you for writing. Our online editor who posted the story in question (Marjorie Owens) has the initials “MO,” which she appended to the slug of the photo as part of a naming convention for WFAA.com story elements. I can absolutely assure you that there was no malice intended; this was merely an innocent but unfortunate combination. The original photo’s filename has been changed to> eliminate any possibility of misunderstanding. On behalf of WFAA.com, I apologize for this oversight. Please let me know if you have any additional questions. Sincerely, Walt Zwirko WFAA.com senior news editor wzwirko@wfaa.com

Monday's Man: Thomas Jane

Thomas Jane stars in the new HBO series Hung, in which he plays a Detriot high school coach who's down on his luck and decides to market his best asset, his big dick. It also stars Celestia as the wife dumb enough to leave him, but she doesn't have much screen time, so watch anyway.

In the opening credits, he walks the streets of Detroit, stripping down one article of clothing at a time. He ends up literally butt naked jumping into a lake. That's one way to keep an audience.

If you don't like big, built, hairy men with big dicks, then this isn't the show for you. Somehow, I think my readers will be watching.

Independence Day!

Join patriotic men like Tyson and celebrate America!

Sarah Palin Resigns!

Cold Spice has resigned as governor of Alaska effective in 2 weeks. Wow. This is kind of like the death of Anna Nicole in that it's simultaneously shocking and not in the least surprising. Once she got a taste of stardom and shopping sprees at Neimans, there was no way she was going to be satisfied in isolated Alaska.

Obviously cutting out on her first term as governor will cripple her chances to be president. Who would want to vote for someone who cut and ran when the publicity got negative? She's such a bizarre figure, though, that she may think this is a brilliant move towards the White House.

Maybe she'll just be a footwear model.

FWPD Halts TABC Raids

Fort Worth police chief Halsted announced that his force would stop operations with TABC in light of the Rainbow Lounge raid. Todd Camp, founder of the Ft. Worth Q Cinema gay and lesbian film festival called it a good first step. He said "I'm glad to hear that both departments are conducting investigation. As a long-time resident of Fort Worth, I look forward to working with the police department to make sure something like this doesn't happen again."

Chief Halsted also said he'd appoint a liaison to the gay community and initiate diversity training for the force.

I would like to note that the Dallas Police Department has had a liaison to the gay community for years and has long provided diversity training for every recruit at the Dallas Police Academy. Chief Halsted seems to have just realized they have gay people in Fort Worth.

Homosexuality De-Criminalized in India

The highest court in New Delhi has overturned a colonial era law that made gay sex criminal. The decision only applies in the territory of the capitol city, but will likely cause the national government to either repeal the law nationwide or appeal the decision to the supreme court.

Lest we think America is so far ahead of India in gay equality, remember that our own sodomy laws were only struck down in 2003.

TABC To Investigate Gay Bar Raid

TABC issued a press release today admitting that Chad Gibson was in their custody when he was injured and expressing their "sincere hope" that he recovers quickly. They are conducting an investigation and urge anyone who witnessed any officer misconduct to contact Lt. Andy Pena, Acting Director of the Office of Professional Responsibility, at opr@tabc.state.tx.us or call 512-206-3405.

Meanwhile, the Ft. Worth Police Chief was faced with Dallas-based Queer Libraction at an east Fort Worth community meeting. These people are not backing down. The chief said,

"We’ve got to work together. Be patient, and you will see that this is just not lip service. I will meet with you wherever you want to meet. I will go to your restaurants, your house, we can eat barbecue, whatever you want to do. But we’ve got to talk. We will heal beyond this."

That's considerably better than his comment yesterday that he was "happy with the restraint used."

The good news is Chad Gibson is now in fair condition.

Rainbow Lounge: FWPD Press Conference and Vigil

The Rainbow Lounge story continues to grow. Last night there was a candlelight vigil outside the hospital where Chad Gibson remains in the ICU. The Ft. Worth PD held a "community forum" where they blamed the bashing of Gibson on TABC and said Ft. Worth officers did not take part. FWPD is still sticking to their story that patrons made "sexually explicit movements" toward the officers and one patron grabbed an officer's crotch.

CBS 11 has a good report here.